It's time for Democrats to give up the funk

By Eugene Robinson
WashPost
Friday, July 16, 2010

Let's get this straight: The federal deficit is such a big crisis that we can't extend benefits for millions of Americans who are unemployed, many of them in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure? But without a second thought we can extend a massive, temporary tax cut for the rich, even though asking the wealthy to pay their fair share would go a long way toward erasing the deficit?

This, as helpfully laid out by Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, is the Republican Party's economic policy. It's tempting to conclude that if Democrats lose big in November, it will be their own fault because they're running against a party that's preaching pure incoherence.

The thing is, we already know that the Republicans' prescription for the economy doesn't work. We gave their approach an eight-year trial under George W. Bush -- basically, squeeze money out of the middle class and transfer it to the upper class, which theoretically then shows its gratitude by creating jobs for what BP's chairman would call "the small people." The result of the experiment has been the worst economic slump since the Great Depression.

That should settle the question of what happens this fall. Democrats ought to be looking at the prospect of only modest losses, consistent with the historical pattern of midterm elections. Instead, they are going to have to fight tooth and nail to keep their congressional majorities, especially in the House.

(More here.)